Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Why wasn’t he locked up? If he had been dad would still be here
Murder victim’s son tells of anguish Ireland was well known to courts
“I called him and I texted him but no reply. About 20 minutes later I got a call from police asking if I could get to the RVI [Royal Victoria Infirmary] as there had been an assault. I thought this meant Peter had been injured. When I got to hospital, the doctor told me there was nothing he could do to save him.
“My life ended with these words. I felt like I had been stabbed through the heart too. All I could think was how do I tell our boys that Dad isn’t coming home.
“The person who did this should never be allowed to walk our streets again.”
Describing Peter as “the perfect husband” and her “best friend”, she added: “[Ireland] already had convictions for violence and carrying offensive but nothing stopped him. He went on to murder my husband.”
Billy Elliot writer Lee Hall, a school friend of Peter, wrote a letter to his family which was read to the court. He told them: “He was always open, kind, generous, reliable, smart... He was an exceptional person and I count myself exceptionally lucky to have known him.”
Ireland was caught on CCTV dumping the weapon in a bin in a sidestreet.
Richard Wright QC, prosecuting, said of the killing: “It was an unintended and accidental contact but the defendant reacted by launching an attack. As Ewan Ireland turned .... the older man took hold of him to fend off attack and in an attempt to restrain him. The two of them
THIS is an outrageous case and there are similarities to the murder of my son.
His killer was 19 and had a criminal past. He was a bomb waiting to go off. You have to ask, is enough being done when there are warning stumbled together… and the defendant briefly went to the ground. Whether it was that perceived loss of face or just his inherent aggression, the defendant resolved to escalate his use of violence.”
Ireland handed himself into police hours later and said in his initial interview: “Murder? What murder?”
Neighbours in Westerhope, Newcastle, told of how he had chased his mother Kerry down the street with a knife.
And Ireland’s family claim they begged police to “lock him up” around two weeks before Peter’s murder.
But they were allegedly told: “The only way we will take him off the streets is if he either hurts somebody or kills someweapons signs? Patterns of behaviour can start in primary school.
If there are mental health issues, we need to act earlier.
You don’t want to incarcerate young people if that is not right for them.
But you have to ask if they still pose a danger and if they should be let out. Otherwise, it is heartbreaking for the families of the victims. body.” Northumbria Police said they could not comment on the claims but stressed “multiple agencies” dealt with Ireland’s case over years of offending.
Ireland attacked a girl of 17 close to the murder scene eight months earlier.
In March, he admitted assault on her but got a conditional discharge when it could not be proven ammonia was used.
His victim said: “I was in hospital with a burn on my eye. He got 12 months on licence. Maybe if he got what he deserved that man might not have lost his life.”
Det Chief Insp Jane Fairlamb said: “Often we have to release people under investigation or bail them so we can continue inquiries. So in an ideal world we might want to say we should lock people up until we have finished with them. But the law is quite strict as to how long we can keep them in custody.”
The Ministry of Justice declined to comment, saying the release of suspects on bail was a matter for the courts.
THE court heard Ireland had a “significant” criminal history from the age of 14 – with repeated chances to take him off the streets.
He appeared before courts 17 times in respect of 31 offences, including:
Appears before youth court for offences of violence, criminal damage and using a blade to threaten another person.
Sentenced to youth rehabilitation order for possession of offensive weapons, a knife and a knuckle duster, used to threaten another person in a public place.
He breached that order and was sent to a young offender institution for four months in Feb 2019.
Led a gang of up to 30 young thugs in a terrifying robbery on a teenage boy.
They beat and stamped on him till he fell unconscious over a “plastic gangster” insult. Ireland admitted affray and sentenced to six months yesterday.
Convicted for public order offences including use of threatening behaviour.
Given a 12-month conditional discharge after admitting a battery offence against a 17-year-old girl
On bail after pleading guilty to affray committed on May 2.
Released under investigation for possessing an offensive weapon, which he denied.
His release came 53 days before the murder.
Murder of Peter Duncan, theft of screwdrivers, possession of offensive weapon.